Veterans, Historians Honor Black Civil War Veterans In Kentucky

Kentucky (PittPostGazette)– Several veterans and historians gathered in Alleghany, Kentucky to honor the 180,000 African Americans who fought in the Civil War. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports:

Local African-American veterans and officials from the History Center gathered at the cemetery Sunday to honor more than 100 Civil War-era African-American soldiers who are buried there.

Mr. Masich said the men, called U.S. Colored Troops, are “forgotten heroes.” Fighting for a place where they were treated as the lowliest of citizens, many met harsh discrimination after their service, too.

“These men went before us and laid the pathway which we are still treading on,” said Staff Sergeant Michael E. Flournoy, an African-American Vietnam War veteran and a readjustment counselor for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.